


a little like home

by flaubertienne



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: there's data/geordi if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25611067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flaubertienne/pseuds/flaubertienne
Summary: data cannot smell, but that does not mean he cannot appreciate the connections between certain chemical trails, and the places and people that he knows.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	a little like home

data cannot smell, but that does not mean he cannot appreciate the connections between certain chemical trails, and the places and people that he knows.

the enterprise, for example, is a curious mix of scorched metal and artifical teak. that is because, despite the airlock which keeps its thousand-over occupants breathing, the minute scent of space permeates onto every surface. the teak, on the other hand, derives from the railing that spans across the bridge-- his brain has come to associate that scent with earth, and earthiness, but there is always a hint of something different, something replicated. perhaps this is what counselor troi speaks of when she talks about _real_ chocolate.

/

captain picard, too, has his own scent. the captain, of course, does not care for fragrance unless it is a special occasion, but data has come to link the man with the bitter hint of tea leaves found at the base of tea cups and the sharp tang of old, yellow books. and always, there is an urgent heat that runs through captain picard, as if his body himself cannot possibly contain the brightness of its sheer brilliance. it lingers closely to the scent of the enterprise, as if the captain lives and breathes within it.

/

on the other hand, when data stands next to commander riker, he does not find an inferno. there is something burning, of course, but it calls to data's mind the slowburn of a woodfire, crackling and splitting on a cold winter's day. the musk that runs underneath it all conjures an image that is at once recklessly comforting and fiercely ambitious. it is an open and easy scent like the jokes that he makes which data does not understand. 

/

there was something about lieutenant yar's scent that was elusive and almost imperceptible. but data knows that it was there-- a barely-there hint of clean citrus and violets. perhaps it was because they were once so close that data is able to perceive it, along with the intimate scent of human skin, so different from his synthetic one. and even though lieutenant yar is no longer with them, there are times when he thinks he catches a waft down a corridor, when he is preoccupied with other matters. but then he looks up and blinks-- and it vanishes into thin air.

/

having worked with doctor crusher for such a long time, it is almost impossible to not think of her without thinking of the cold, sterile atmosphere of the medical bay. but, the doctor seems to emanate a different chemical signature from the rest of the room. there is almost a floral sillage to her presence that lingers long after doctor crusher has left the room. a bouquet of camellias and bergamot and lilies falls upon anything she has touched. it is a scent that data was unable to describe for the longest time, until he met doctor juliana tainer.

/

if there was one way to describe worf's scent, data might defer to his other adjectives for the klingon. martial, primal, and cautious. like commander riker, the musk hangs heavily around worf, and signals almost his warrior-like stature, but there is also a curtain of powder that throws it off-kilter. for a few months, data wondered about the source of the latter. it was not until when he had the chance to meet alexander properly, that he knew where it came from.

/

counselor troi is a myriad of scents from all over the ship, possibly because she shakes hands and exchanges embraces with almost everyone she sees for her appointments. however, when the senior officers meet in the mornings, before they report for duty, data is able to recognise her signature-- a rosy oud that permeates the walls in an all-encompassing embrace. and when data detects this scent, he finds it present in almost all corners of the enterprise, like a guiding hand that is always reaching, and waiting to be received.

/

and geordi: well, simply put geordi is a simple concoction of coffee and linen. on certain days, data thinks he can smell the familiar waft of the jeffries tube on him. but that is what geordi's scent is-- simple and familiar. data thinks it is very much like his own scent, when he removes his uniform at the end of the day and gives it a little sniff before swapping out for a new one. in some ways, the similarity of their scents brings a great relief to data, because it is small evidence of his nearness to humanity, and most of all, his nearness to geordi.

/

like how he has learnt to tilt his head at time to approximate the randomness of human gestures or the position of spot's food bowl, data's positronic brain has become accustomed to the scents around him. and while he may never truly understand how these scents can evoke certain feelings, as humans do, a part of him knows, every time he feels the floor of the transporter beneath his feel, or returns back to his station, or his quarters, that there is something about those scents. something that smells like home.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, concrit is welcomed! i wrote this to be a little more "mechanical" than usual to get into data's frame of thinking. hopefully this worked! c:


End file.
